Thornton Wilder’s “Our Town” isn’t set in Vermont, but it might as well be. A treasure of American theater, the play traces 12 years in the life of the fictional New Hampshire town of Grover’s Corners.

For Ben Rapson, directing Chandler Center for the Art’s upcoming production of “Our Town” seemed like the perfect way to pay homage to his own rural town of Randolph.

While the play centers around two families, the Gibbs and Webbs, it’s equally preoccupied with the lives of the other townsfolk.

“There’s that real local focus that I became obsessed with,” he said of the play in a recent interview.

Rapson’s love affair with small-town life began when he moved to Vermont in 2018, a big shift from his previous digs in Seattle where he’d studied theater and subsequently started a film and theater production company with his friends.

Though he’s been involved in marketing for the now-defunct JAG Productions, “Our Town” will be Rapson’s first time acting and directing in Vermont.

“There did feel like a sense of opportunity for me to not only learn about small-town life through the play and through Randolph, but also to appreciate it and to make sure that folks in the audience could really tell that this was honoring what small-town New England and Vermont is really about,” he said.

Set in a theater, in this case the historic downtown music hall, with minimal sets and costumes, the trappings of “Our Town” help blur the line between story and reality.

“It’s perhaps the original American play that broke the fourth wall. It’s the predecessor of Ferris Bueller,” said Rapson, who also plays the Stage Manager and addresses the audience directly throughout the show.

The Vermont connection is strengthened by the addition of several Noah Kahan songs, which mark the beginning of each act and will be sung by the entire 35-member cast, many of whom are from Randolph, and supported by a live band.

Rapson was first inspired to integrate Kahan’s music into the play when he discovered the duets Kahan had recorded with artists like Hozier and Brandi Carlile.

“They’re talking to each other. They have that same communal storytelling feel (as the play),” Rapson said.

Song lyrics will be printed in the production’s programs, and audiences are encouraged to sing along.

“Our Town” isn’t just about small-town fellowship. Death plays a big role in the story, too, especially for the Webb and Gibbs families. But rather than something to fear, the play considers death a friend. 

Emily Webb’s experience with mortality, for instance, only emphasizes the preciousness of life, said Burlington-resident Beatrice Scott, who will play Emily in the actor’s debut performance at Chandler.

First produced at the McCarter Theatre in Princeton, N.J., at the tail end of the Great Depression in 1938, “Our Town” has a long history of underscoring the importance of community in troubling times.

The play was later staged on Broadway in 1969, and then at New York City’s Barrow Street Theatre in 2009, a year after the financial crash.

As the United States navigates another period of uncertainty, the Chandler’s rendition exists as part of that legacy, reminding audiences of the solace that can be found in our neighbors.

“Our Town” runs from Friday, Feb. 28 through Sunday, March 9. For tickets ($15-$25, kids free), or more information, visit chandler-arts.org or call 802-728-9878.

Marion Umpleby can be reached at mumpleby@vnews.com or 603-727-3306.